Honda kicks off second season of Idemitsu Talent Hunt from Chennai
Chennai, 29 July 2019: The Idemitsu Honda India Talent Hunt received a huge response and after a lengthy process 19 talented youngsters were selected and these riders from across India will be trained and groomed for Season 2 at the home of Indian racing, Chennai.
The Idemitsu Talent Hunt is Honda’s unique initiative which aims to identify racers starting as young as 12 years. Honda 2Wheelers India uses this platform to groom the best of young Indian riders for a racing career both at national and international level.
The first round in Chennai saw an overwhelming participation of 18 youngsters from Kolhapur, Mumbai, Satara, Puducherry, Tirur, Bengaluru, Patna, Bokaro, and Vizag. The candidates went through rigourous tests at 3 levels. Starting with their physical fitness, and then moving to race orientation and riding skills for the race track, they were judged and selected. This was followed by a one-on-one interview with candidates and parents/guardians to understand both their motorsport passion and family support.
After shortlisting in phase 1, the top candidates of the Talent Hunt of Delhi and NCR would be trained and given an opportunity to ride on the track in Phase II. It is from this pool of talent that Honda will pick up the best talent for future development. These final riders will then join the 12 selected riders to race in the Honda Talent Cup CBR 150R category in the 2019 season.
Sharing an overview on Honda’s aim for developing ‘Iconic Indian Riders’, Prabhu Nagaraj, Vice-President, Brand & Communication, Honda Motorcycle, and Scooter India said: “In 2018 we took a big leap to develop racers at a young age on our structural development path. The young talent which we got from last year are already showing phenomenal results. To accelerate their development, we are constantly providing them exposure and have brought the Moto3 machine NSF250R to India. Looking at the immense passion and potential of these riders, we further extend our leap and start the second edition of the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Hunt. This year, the Talent Hunt will travel to four more cities after Chennai to identify India’s next big racing sensations. I am confident that these budding riders will change the scenario of motorsports in India and make the nation proud at the international podiums as well.”
IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Hunt 2018 and way forward
Introduced in 2018, Honda conducted the ‘Idemitsu Honda India Talent Hunt’ in seven cities and identified top 19 young riders with immense potential. As the first step for rider development, 11 of these top riders are now part of the India Talent Cup, the CBR150R class. These riders are already proving their potential on the racetrack. Parallelly, the remaining 8 riders are riding the same Honda machine as Moto3 champions in Talent Cup – NSF250R class. Further, Honda fast-tracked the development of top 2 riders from 2018 Honda Talent Hunt to Asia level at Thai Talent Cup.
